feat(cron): split jobs.json into config and runtime state files by Feelw00 · Pull Request #63105 · openclaw/openclaw

Feelw00 · 2026-04-08T10:39:32Z

Summary

Problem: jobs.json mixes config and runtime state in a single file. Every cron execution rewrites ~10 runtime fields, producing meaningless git diffs even when no configuration changed.
Why it matters: Users who track cron config in git get noise commits proportional to the number of scheduled jobs.
What changed: saveCronStore now writes config to jobs.json and runtime state to jobs-state.json. loadCronStore merges both files by job ID. Added configUpdatedAtMs to distinguish config modification time from execution time.
What did NOT change (scope boundary): persist(), ops.ts control flow, timer.ts execution logic, doctor-cron.ts migration — all unchanged. Split logic is fully encapsulated in store.ts.

Change Type (select all)

Scope (select all touched areas)

Linked Issue/PR

Closes [Feature]: Split cron store into definitions + runtime state files #53581
This PR fixes a bug or regression

Root Cause (if applicable)

N/A — this is a new feature.

Regression Test Plan (if applicable)

N/A — new feature. Existing tests updated to validate split behavior.

User-visible / Behavior Changes

New file jobs-state.json created alongside jobs.json in the cron store directory
jobs.json no longer contains runtime state fields (updatedAtMs, state.*) — only state: {} stubs
New optional field configUpdatedAtMs on cron jobs, tracking when config was last modified (distinct from execution-time updatedAtMs)
Users can now git-track jobs.json and gitignore jobs-state.json without diff noise

Diagram (if applicable)

Before:
[cron runs] -> [jobs.json rewritten with config + runtime] -> [git diff noise]

After:
[cron runs] -> [jobs-state.json rewritten (runtime only)] -> [jobs.json untouched] -> [no git diff]
[config edit] -> [both files rewritten] -> [meaningful git diff]

Security Impact (required)

New permissions/capabilities? No
Secrets/tokens handling changed? No
New/changed network calls? No
Command/tool execution surface changed? No
Data access scope changed? No

Repro + Verification

Environment

OS: Linux
Runtime/container: Node 24
Model/provider: N/A
Integration/channel: N/A
Relevant config: default cron store path

Steps

Create a cron job: openclaw cron add --name test --every 1m --message "ping"
Wait for execution or run manually: openclaw cron run <id> --force
Check jobs.json — should contain config only with state: {}
Check jobs-state.json — should contain runtime state
Run again — jobs.json should remain unchanged

Expected

jobs.json only changes on config edit (add/update/remove)
jobs-state.json updates on every execution

Actual

Verified locally: jobs.json stable after runtime-only changes

Evidence

Failing test/log before + passing after
Trace/log snippets
Screenshot/recording
Perf numbers (if relevant)

26 tests passing across store, service/store, service/ops, service/timer, doctor-cron. pnpm check and pnpm tsgo green.

Human Verification (required)

Verified scenarios: save/load round-trip, runtime-only change (no config file write), config change (both files written), backup on config change only, migration from old single-file format
Edge cases checked: empty store, missing state file, orphan state entries, jobs with missing state
What you did not verify: Windows EPERM fallback path (tested via mock only), multi-process concurrent access, production gateway integration

Review Conversations

I replied to or resolved every bot review conversation I addressed in this PR.
I left unresolved only the conversations that still need reviewer or maintainer judgment.

Compatibility / Migration

Backward compatible? Yes — old-format jobs.json is auto-migrated on first load
Config/env changes? No
Migration needed? No — automatic on first execution cycle
Downgrade safety: jobs.json retains state: {} stubs. All CronJobState fields are optional, so older versions read empty state without TypeError. Jobs resume with recalculated schedules.

Risks and Mitigations

Risk: configUpdatedAtMs backfilled from createdAtMs is inaccurate for jobs modified after creation
- Mitigation: One-time migration cost. Original config modification timestamps were already lost (overwritten by execution timestamps). createdAtMs is the best available approximation.
Risk: Two-file write is not cross-file atomic
- Mitigation: Each file is individually atomic (tmp + rename). jobs-state.json written first. Runtime state is always recoverable via recomputeNextRuns.

AI Disclosure

This PR is AI-assisted (Claude Code / Claude Opus 4.6)
Fully tested — pnpm build, pnpm check, pnpm tsgo, and 26 related tests all passing
I understand what the code does — the design was iteratively developed through analysis of store.ts, types.ts, ops.ts, timer.ts, and jobs.ts, with multiple rounds of review and self-critique before implementation
Codex review — no access to Codex; bot reviews (Greptile 5/5, Codex Connector) addressed and resolved
All bot review conversations resolved after addressing

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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greptile-apps · 2026-04-08T10:47:51Z

Greptile Summary

This PR splits jobs.json into a config file (jobs.json) and a runtime-state file (jobs-state.json) so that cron executions no longer produce git noise when the job configuration is unchanged. The logic is cleanly encapsulated in store.ts: saveCronStore writes config vs. state to separate files guarded by their own cache keys, loadCronStore merges them on read, and backward migration from the single-file format is handled automatically on first save.

The three previously-flagged concerns (state-path derivation for non-.json paths, updatedAtMs undefined for manually-added jobs, and the double-chmod on the temp file) all appear resolved in the current code.

Confidence Score: 5/5

Safe to merge — logic is sound, all three prior P1/P2 concerns are resolved, and the one remaining issue is a minor mtime side-effect that does not affect correctness or git-diff stability.

All previously flagged issues (non-.json state path derivation, undefined updatedAtMs for manually-added jobs, redundant chmod) are addressed in the current code. The new concern (spurious jobs.json mtime touch on first persist in fresh-clone scenario) is P2 only — content is byte-for-byte identical so git shows no diff. Migration, round-trip, and runtime-only-churn paths are covered by tests.

src/cron/store.ts — the migrating + cache-miss interaction described in the inline comment.

Vulnerabilities

No security concerns identified. File permissions are correctly enforced (0o600 on store and state files, 0o700 on directory). No new network calls, secrets handling, or auth surface changes.

Prompt To Fix All With AI

This is a comment left during a code review.
Path: src/cron/store.ts
Line: 218-248

Comment:
**`jobs.json` silently rewritten on first persist when state file is absent**

When `jobs.json` already exists in the new format (`state: {}`) but `jobs-state.json` does not yet exist, `loadCronStore` sets the config cache but leaves the state cache key unset (no state file → no `serializedStoreCache.set(`${storePath}:state`, ...)`). On the first `persist()` call (e.g., to repair a missing `nextRunAtMs` on startup):

1. `cachedState` is `undefined` → `stateChanged = true`
2. `!cachedState && state file absent` → `migrating = true`
3. `configChanged || migrating` is `true` even if `configChanged = false` → `jobs.json` is re-written with identical content

The file content is byte-for-byte identical so `git diff` stays clean, but the mtime changes. If a file-watcher or external tooling monitors `jobs.json` by mtime, it will trigger a false change on first startup in a fresh clone. The straightforward fix is to prime the state cache when there is no state file, so the first save only triggers a write when content actually differs:

```typescript
// After the "fresh clone or first run" path, prime the state cache to prevent
// a spurious config rewrite on the first persist.
const emptyStateJson = JSON.stringify(extractStateFile(store), null, 2);
serializedStoreCache.set(`${storePath}:state`, emptyStateJson);
```

With this in place, `stateChanged` will be `false` when nothing has changed and `migrating` will not be set unnecessarily.

How can I resolve this? If you propose a fix, please make it concise.

_{Reviews (3): Last reviewed commit: "fix(cron): backfill updatedAtMs in fresh..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

Feelw00 · 2026-04-08T11:13:23Z

@greptile review and provide confidence score

greptile-apps · 2026-04-08T11:16:58Z

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Feelw00 · 2026-04-08T11:21:50Z

@greptile review and provide confidence score

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Daanvdplas · 2026-04-09T16:58:59Z

Thank you for this PR!

Daanvdplas · 2026-04-14T11:25:10Z

@Feelw00 are you going to finish this PR? Otherwise I would like to finish it because I really need this feature

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Feelw00 · 2026-04-15T00:27:41Z

@Daanvdplas
Hi! I really need this feature too! I've been trying to get feedback from maintainers on Discord but haven't heard back. If you have a way to get this merged or can connect with the maintainers, feel free to take it forward — happy to help however needed.

Daanvdplas · 2026-04-15T07:54:07Z

@Feelw00 perhaps making the CI green would help

Daanvdplas · 2026-04-15T07:56:22Z

He @gumadeiras you reviewed a PR of me 2 weeks ago, could you maybe review this PR?

@Feelw00 and I would be super excited for this to get merged. It would essentially allow to put cron definitions in github and have runtime state separated in another file not committed to git.

For me at least I have a team working on the same openclaw and thus a clean github repo is super useful.

Thanks in advance!

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Daanvdplas · 2026-04-20T11:19:03Z

I read somewhere that they were not allowing more features in for a while to focus on security. Changing the name to fix(cron) might help?

Feelw00 · 2026-04-20T14:26:17Z

@Daanvdplas
Thanks for the suggestion! Actually, a maintainer recently commented on Discord clarifying the current policy. I'll quote it here for context:

We can't GUARANTEE we will merge / review every PR. Even if it's XS and Greptile 5/5. Our focus right now is bugs, critical issues, reliability and stability.
We are frozen on feature work / changes and even past the freeze this week we will take a hard look at anything "new". If you want some fancy feature build and ship your own plugin.

So it's not specifically about security — new features have been intentionally frozen, and while the freeze lifts this week, there's no guarantee anything "new" will actually get merged since it'll be scrutinized closely.
My plan is to wait through this week and ping for feedback first. If there's no response, I'll consider your suggestion.

Daanvdplas · 2026-04-20T14:51:56Z

Agree with your approach, I bet they will want this, it just increases flexibility and allows to manage openclaw instances better through github. So in my view it will increase security even.

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gumadeiras · 2026-04-20T18:23:23Z

Merged via squash.

Prepared head SHA: 470bb2561fa4c2e6c1ac09e14576f9acb79610f1
Merge commit: 4be6ff9d5f3e1a5788f6aea8ef253e7280b8b428

Thanks @Feelw00!

Daanvdplas · 2026-04-20T18:29:01Z

Thanks @gumadeiras

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…claw#63105) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 470bb25 Co-authored-by: Feelw00 <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @gumadeiras

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…claw#63105) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 470bb25 Co-authored-by: Feelw00 <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @gumadeiras

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…claw#63105) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 470bb25 Co-authored-by: Feelw00 <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @gumadeiras

@gumadeiras

…claw#63105) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 470bb25 Co-authored-by: Feelw00 <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @gumadeiras

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…claw#63105) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 470bb25 Co-authored-by: Feelw00 <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @gumadeiras

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…claw#63105) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 470bb25 Co-authored-by: Feelw00 <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @gumadeiras

@gumadeiras

…claw#63105) Merged via squash. Prepared head SHA: 470bb25 Co-authored-by: Feelw00 <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: @gumadeiras

Feelw00 requested a review from a team as a code owner April 8, 2026 10:39

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gumadeiras added 8 commits April 20, 2026 14:22

cron: simplify split store hydration

6a3f92b

cron: clarify split store docs

a1db267

cron: harden split state loading

b09fb16

cron: recover missing split state sidecar

0df78ed

cron: consolidate split store cache state

4e2280b

cron: surface unreadable state sidecars

b696eeb

test(cron): keep store tests lightweight

8c609ca

cron: recover missing split config file

470bb25

gumadeiras force-pushed the feat/split-cron-store-state branch from 3939207 to 470bb25 Compare April 20, 2026 18:22

gumadeiras merged commit 4be6ff9 into openclaw:main Apr 20, 2026
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github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request Apr 20, 2026

📡 Upstream Digest — 2026-04-20 18:54 UTC curtismercier/openclaw-mods#627

Open

simonemacario mentioned this pull request Apr 24, 2026

[Bug]: v2026.4.22 official Docker image — 18 bundled plugins fail runtime-dep install with EUNSUPPORTEDPROTOCOL: "workspace:*" #70844

Closed

fabianwilliams mentioned this pull request Apr 25, 2026

cron run manual trigger doesn't faithfully reproduce the scheduled execution environment #71777

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clawsweeper Bot mentioned this pull request May 2, 2026

cron: v2026.4.2 silently drops jobs.json (plain-array format) and first add clobbers all data #60799

Closed

This was referenced May 20, 2026

fix(cron): reload external store edits before reusing cache #41614

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[Feature]: cron jobs.d/ directory support (one file per job, for NixOS/GitOps declarative setups) #20950

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Summary

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Greptile Summary

Confidence Score: 5/5

Vulnerabilities

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